Police Officer Involved Domestic Violence.
Lighting a candle of remembrance for those who've lost their lives to domestic violence behind the blue wall, for strength and wisdom to those still there, and a non-ending prayer for those who thought they had escaped but can't stop being afraid.

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Monday, June 21, 2010

[WY] (Kidnapper Trooper Ryle had asked Trooper Henderson to help him kill his wife - and Henderson didn't report it)

Trooper Ryle

According to an FBI affidavit, [Wyoming State Trooper Franklin] Ryle had asked [Highway Patrol trooper Devan] Henderson whether he wanted to help Ryle kill his wife and take part in the plan to stage an accident involving a trucker.

THAT is not the focus of the most recent news - which is equally as twisted - but that POINT - Trooper Henderson keeping his mouth shut after being asked to help kill a cop's wife - stood out to me because of all the victims of officer-involved domestic violence who come to fear all the police around them - not knowing who may be conspiring with their ex to do them harm.

...[Former Wyoming State Trooper Franklin] Ryle took [Walmart trucker Richard] Smidt to Ryle's house to ask his wife to help stage the accident. She later alerted authorities. Ryle testified that he released Smidt after having a change of heart. But federal prosecutors argued that Ryle only abandoned his plan after realizing that the global positioning system in Smidt's truck would have proven it had been stationary, not traveling down the road, before getting involved in any accident with Ryle's car... Smidt's lawsuit states that top Highway Patrol officials entered into a settlement agreement with him, paying him $10,000 to end any claims he might have against the state. He says the officials didn't tell him that they knew Ryle had plotted to kill him... "I'm supposed to determine how this somewhat sleazy approach to solving this problem is legal or not, because it doesn't look very good," Downes said...

PREVIOUS POST:[WY] Trooper Ryle - Allegations he threatened, choked, bit his wife, and held a gun to her head - ...The protection order request doesn't mention the allegations that led federal authorities to file charges against Ryle on March 26. It does include accusations by Ryle's wife that he choked and bit her, held a gun to her head and threatened to take away the couple's two children... A judge granted the order the same day. Federal authorities have charged Ryle with unlawfully arresting and kidnapping a man in an incident that allegedly happened eight days before the protection order was granted...

FEDERAL JUDGE SAYS WYOMING TREATED TRUCKER IN 'SOMEWHAT SLEAZY' MANNER
Land Line Magazine
June 16, 2010
A federal judge says the state of Wyoming’s treatment of a Walmart trucker who was kidnapped by a former state trooper was “somewhat sleazy.” But The Associated Press reported the judge didn’t rule on Monday on the state’s request to dismiss the trucker’s lawsuit. Former trooper Franklin Ryle pleaded guilty last year to kidnapping Richard Smidt with the intent of killing him. Ryle planned to injure himself in a staged accident with Smidt’s truck and then sue Walmart for damages. Smidt accepted a settlement payment from the state before he learned that Ryle had planned to kill him. Smidt is now seeking more money from the state. [LINK]

JUDGE KNOCKS WYO.'S HANDLING OF ABDUCTED TRUCKER
cbs4denver
Ben Neary, Associated Press Writer
Jun 14, 2010
[Excerpts] ...Former trooper Franklin Ryle pleaded guilty last year to federal charges that he violated Smidt's civil rights by kidnapping him and holding him in his patrol car for about an hour. Ryle has testified that he had intended to kill Smidt after pulling him over near Douglas in January 2009. Ryle took Smidt to Ryle's house to ask his wife to help stage the accident. She later alerted authorities. Ryle testified that he released Smidt after having a change of heart. But federal prosecutors argued that Ryle only abandoned his plan after realizing that the global positioning system in Smidt's truck would have proven it had been stationary, not traveling down the road, before getting involved in any accident with Ryle's car... Smidt, of Arvada, Colo., approached the Highway Patrol early last year, before news of Ryle's plot broke, to document that Ryle had forced him to abandon his truck for a while by the side of the road. Smidt's lawsuit states that top Highway Patrol officials entered into a settlement agreement with him, paying him $10,000 to end any claims he might have against the state. He says the officials didn't tell him that they knew Ryle had plotted to kill him... "This is the colonel of the Wyoming Highway Patrol, who knows full well that one his troopers has almost murdered a truck driver — Rick Smidt," [Smidt's lawyer, Pat] Crank said. "They pay him a pittance, $10,000, and have him, without a lawyer, sign a settlement agreement"... "I'm supposed to determine how this somewhat sleazy approach to solving this problem is legal or not, because it doesn't look very good," Downes said. He said he will rule on the state's request to dismiss the case as soon as possible. [Full article here]

DEC 2009

FORMER TROOPER GETS PROBATION
Casper Star-Tribune
William Browning
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 12:00 am
[Excerpts] A judge Tuesday sentenced a former state trooper to two years of supervised probation for possessing anabolic steroids... Longo’s name surfaced during a Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation probe of Franklin Ryle Jr., a former trooper recently sentenced to 15 years behind bars for attempting to kidnap a Walmart truck driver. During that investigation, authorities discovered anabolic steroids in Ryle’s desk... In February, Longo walked into the office of Col. Sam Powell, the head of the Wyoming Highway Patrol, and admitted to having used steroids during the previous 18 months and sharing some with Ryle... The steroids Longo pleaded guilty to possessing, Blonigen has noted in the past, were for personal use... Longo, who was based in Casper, cut ties with the Highway Patrol in August... Another former state trooper, Devan Henderson, 34, pleaded guilty to possession of steroids earlier this year and was also sentenced to two years of supervised probation. Apart from probation, Longo was sentenced to 100 hours of community service... [Full article here]

APRIL 2010

TRUCK DRIVER SUES OVER WYOMING TROOPER KIDNAPPING
Associated Press
April 13, 2010
[Excerpts] A Walmart trucker filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday saying he wasn’t told that the Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper who detained him early last year had planned to kill him in a possible extortion plot against the retailer. Trucker Richard J. Smidt of Arvada, Colo., claims Highway Patrol administrators agreed to pay him $10,000 last year to settle any possible claims after former trooper Franklin Ryle detained him near Douglas in January 2009... Ryle pleaded guilty in July in the federal case. In testimony at his plea hearing, Ryle said he drove his patrol car to his house in Douglas with Smidt in it. Ryle said he told his wife that the trucker was already dead and that he needed her to help stage an accident involving the truck and his patrol car. But Ryle testified he decided he couldn’t go through with the killing as he drove Smidt back to his truck. Ryle released Smidt after telling him that a computer mix-up had falsely indicated there had been a warrant for his arrest. The Highway Patrol and the FBI began investigating Ryle after his wife alerted her brother, a Casper police officer, about the plan later in January... According to the lawsuit, Smidt asked [former Patrol Administrator Sam] Powell, who retired this year as colonel in charge of the Highway Patrol, why Ryle had detained him. It states Powell responded only that Ryle wanted to get his truck... The lawsuit names former Highway Patrol trooper Devan Henderson as a defendant. He pleaded guilty last year to a state felony charge of possessing steroids in a prosecution stemming from the Ryle investigation. According to an FBI affidavit, Ryle had asked Henderson whether he wanted to help Ryle kill his wife and take part in the plan to stage an accident involving a trucker. Smidt claims Henderson violated Smidt’s rights by failing to arrest Ryle when he learned of his plot. [Full article here]

MAY 2010

EX-TROOPER SENTENCED FOR STEROIDS
Casper Star-Tribune
William Browning
Friday, May 7, 2010 11:30 pm
[Excerpts] A former state trooper [Franklin “Joe” Ryle Jr.] already serving a 15-year prison term for kidnapping a truck driver was given a sentence of 18 to 24 months behind bars Friday for steroid possession... After accepting the guilty plea, Judge David Park sentenced the 42-year-old to up to two years behind bars. That term will run at the same time as his current federal prison sentence. Before receiving his sentence Friday, Ryle, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and shackled, told the judge, “I’ll take whatever you give me”... Last year, while investigating Ryle’s plot to kidnap a Walmart truck driver, authorities interviewed another former state trooper, Devan Henderson... Henderson told investigators that in 2004, he and Ryle brought steroids back from Mexico, where they had gone to vacation... Investigators also say that in January 2009, they found two vials of Cypiogen, an anabolic steroid, in Ryle’s work desk, as well as one syringe and 11 needles... [Full article here]

4 comments:

The trucker is my dad and we are incredibly thankful that he survived this ordeal. I think it is beyond reprehensible that Trooper Henderson did not report Ryle's violent plans to his superiors. Other officers besides Henderson were aware of his rantings and no one, NO ONE, reported him to a superior officer. During sentencing for Trooper Ryle the federal judge said, "Maybe it's time Wyoming Highway Patrol cleaned house." He was floored that Ryle was never reported for evaluation, and on and on the story goes. Our family is glad we had our Dad with us today.

What happened to your dad is like a SCARY MOVIE - like WORST POSSIBLE CASE SCENARIO. He did nothing wrong except be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Your dad has angels. Thank you GOD!!!!

That judge was just talking. Trust me. "MAYBE" it's time? Pfff. Nothing will change unless the lawsuit hits them hard. The only changes come when it COSTS. Sad but true. Your family DESERVES millions and I hope you GET it - not just for you but for whatever CHANGE it forces.

They should make a movie about this, very sad. Wal-Mart should retire the driver and give him 100K a year. They could run the movie alongside another movie about the two pervert California Highway Patrolmen who were each convicted of rape and murder.